Pneumatic-tire apparatus.



.GI E, BATCHELLER. PNEuMATlc TIREAFPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. |8. lv9l4.

Patented Mar. 14, 1916. f

. 45 `"made of any .suitable materials,

suenen ELLINwooD BA'rcHnrLnR; or NEW Yorin, n. Y.

PNEUMATIc-'rmn Arranafrus.'

-To all whom t may concern:

i Beit knownthat I, GEORGE E. BATCHLLER,

: aljneiimatic-Tirer Apparatus, of which d,the

following is a full," clear, exact'descrip- -1 citizen or the united sistemas a resident ofthe city of New Vhattan,` in the` county and State' of New York, borough of 'aMan- York, `have invented a-new and Improved tion: i

This inventionfrelates to pneumatic tires,-

i andyhas particular reference to a convenient, a reliable and economical apparatus for 'form'- upon tires of different sizes ortypes byl'thlev ing-, and especially repairing, pneumatic tiresif f f fAinongtheobjects of the invention is to 'providefimproved facilities for operating use of `the same -.-a.pparatus.l

y treated.y l A still'furtherobject of the invention is to provide, an improved means for furnish ing a pressure fluid Vfor the flexible inner bag for 'cooperating with the aforesaid appara-v tus,f"theoperation oflwhich isthoroiighly satisfactory l yand whereby v number of cures may a vastly larger be had. from a single pressure iiiidbag than may apparatus 'commonlyin ilse. i Y

; 1: :Thaforegoingand other obieets of the' invention will hereinafterbe more fully described andclaimed and illustrated in the drawingsforminw a aart'of this s eciiication inwhich ,likeY characters of referenceiindi- ,f fcateficorresponding parts in all the views,

"'fFigure lfis a vertical transverse section "through one form of this apparatus; Fig. 2

tive size sand proportions, as well as the general design ofthe mechanism, may be .uvari'ed to a considerable extent without de- A ".hereinaftermore '1 cally claimedl t parting frointhe spirit `-of the invention fully set -fortlivand specifi- Referring tothe drawings forainore par "-.-ticu1ar. understanding of the invention,

show`pat 10 a bottom side plate and at 11 an upper side plate, the two plates constituting laforesaid valve projects. be'had oy the a width suitable and elfective means for accom eight or 'ten' clips Patented' Mar. 14, iaic.

. Application led February 18, 1914. Serial 1*,1'0'. 819,385.

`a. pair having oppositely arranged 'concave faces for cooperation with ythe sides of a4 tire shown at T, said side platesbeing adjustable toward an'd from each other in accordance with thevarioussizes or 'types of.` tires being treated.

Within the tire and between and spaced from the .concave faces' of the side plates l() and 1l is a flexible pressure fluid bag 12 of any suitable tough, flexible or elastic construction.

Said bag is solid or impervious throughout. its length except at one point 12- where "a valve 13 secured. t i y vThe sidey ,plates being adjustable ,toward and from each other, I provide inner and outer V,rings 14 and 15 constituting one of of peculiar construction is t different mea-ns which might be employed Afiirther .object of theinvention is to ,im-L prove the adjusting and clamping means for the apparatus in a'ccordance'with the various f sizes `of tires being for maintaining them in proper radial alinement and to prevent the bulging of the tire or the inner pressure Bag therefrom'or theremay be resorted to, in practice, of said side plates. In other words, the inner ring 14 is wide enough to substantially close the inner portions ofthe tire and bag, there being no opening therethrough except as shown. at 14;" through which fthe Likewise, the upper plate 11 may be adjusted-along the outer ring 15 to a considerable distance. Ai tread ring lis preferably employed oppof site theftread portion of the tire adjacent the outer rims of theside plate-s. Said tread rings are made in several different sizes as to sev-that the operator may select that one which will correspond to the size or type of the ltire being cured in any particular case. v

Y Any suitable-means may be employed to lock the side plates at the desired 'distances apart'onsniiglyiigiiinst the tread ring 16 with the tire in place between them.- sha is ing this purpose I employ a. series o say, 17 of the character shown in the drawings.. i ably of a rectangular bar of meti `with a hook 18'adapted to engage over t l upper edgeof the ring l'and a nose 19 arranged preferably at right Iangles to the main porfti'on of the, clip and adapted to interlock Each clip4 is made preferbag 12, I employ a special form of uneans j forintroducing water toqserve as the pres `When, however, the parts are assembled and internal pressure is applied to the tire, the action of the severalI rings upon the' clips will render it practically impossible for the clips to become displaced. -In practice the distance from the upper edgel of theouter rim 10a of .the lower plate to the point of the hook 18 remainsl substantially constant the upper plate and said hook is preferably filled by one or more filler rings 20. The filler rings, therefore, are used complemental to the tread ring or rings 16. The wider the tread lring or rings, the narrower will be the filler ring or rings employed invany particular case. vThe hook 18 will preferably bear against or engage over the uppermost filler ring 20. The outer ring 15 may be securedk permanently, if desired, to the lower plate 10 as by means of screws 21.

The upper side plate 11 may be provided with any suitable'number of projecting lugs .22 for the application of a crow bar or other tool for the purpose of lifting the said upper plate after the cure is effected. In the usual practice of curing or repairing automobile tires, the internal bag'for the introduction of pressure fluid such as air, steam o1' Water, will remain effective for a very limited number of cures due lto the excessive heat required for the cure. Said bag 12 must be made( of a very lliexible or resilient composition in order` to serve its proper purpose, and therefore the texture thereof is very easily impaired by,1.t lie heat used. In order to avoid the diiiculty' and expense incident to the usual short' life of a pressure sure Huid and to cause such lwater tocirculate in a definite directionf" around the axis of the tire and emerge through the same valve mechanism, the water 'being supplied,

in a constant streamandiudischarged at a corresponding rate, and thereforeremaining comparatively cool or at a temperature which will neither impair the virtue of the bag nor interrupt in any manner the eflicie'ncy of the heat beingapplied to the tire. This valve mechanism in a'preferred form comprises a' quill 23 fittedsnugly inthe hole 412. of the bag by means of metal washersl24-j gripped. on the opposite sides of the str-ucture of the bag beween a flange 2 5 and a lock nut 26. 27 vindicates a water inlet tube pf any suitable' nature such as flexible methl tubing connected by a nipple 28.to a

union 29 Vdetachably connected by a gland-Q. 30 ytothe outer end of said quill. An outlet" pipe 31, also preferably of flexiblehmetal tubing, is connected to and leads laterally from said T-union. A nozzle' 32 is connect. ed to the nipplej28 in alinement with the inf let pipe 27 and leads into the interior of the bag -to any desired distance through the quill and sufliciently spaced therefrom to provide an outlet opening forthe water be tween the nozzle Aand the quill wall leading through the opening around the nozzle andy the .pipe 31 as above described, but Withthe desired pressure maintained andthe circ u'` lation being continued during the curing of the tire. y

The modiicationinFig. 3 differs from the construction ofAFig. 1 in the utilizing of the tread and filler rings in such a manner as to include the functions of the outer ring 15;

that is to say, the tread ring or rings 16",

the rims 10 and 11, and also the filler rings 20 are all arranged or formed with interengaging tongues 34 and grooves 35 Whereby radial displacement of any one of them with respect to another is prevented. In

this embodiment of the invention the clips which are distributed around the apparatus at suitable intervals are caused to hook over the uppermost filler ring 20 andthe plate rim 10', as shown in Fig. 3. In either form of the invention the parts of the plates 10 and 11 and the inner surface of the'tread ring' may be formed withany suitable number or design of depressions for the purpose of forming non-skid projections or surfaces for the tire tread, as shown at 36. The side plates 10 and 11 arenecessarily of such a stiff and substantial nature for the purposes of this apparatus that with the outer rims 10?' and '11 ythereof substantially anchored to prevent separation, no specialmeans are i necessary to prevent the spreading of the innerportions 3 7 thereof which abut against the inner ring 14.

Having thus described my inventi' n, I claim as new and desire to secure by L, tters Patentz-f-` -v a 1. The herein described pneumatic tire y.apparatus comprising, in combination, a

pair of oppositely arranged side plates having. concave opposite vf aces adapted to receive a tire, and having peripheral locking flanges, means to malntai said plates in proper radial al1nement, means to lock said plate. flanges at variously adjustedv distances apart, and interchangeable tread rings of various thicknesses to fit between the outer flanges of said plates.

' 2. The herein described pneumatiel tire apparatus comprism-g, 1n combmation, a 

